Audio: Martin shakes things up

Travis Moen replaced Benoit Pouliot on one of the top lines with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta while Pouliot lined up with Dustin Boyd and Tom Pyatt. The third line has Jeff Halpern between Maxim Lapierre and Lars Eller.

Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek are back together on defence while P.K. Subban was paired with Alexandre Picard. Josh Gorges and Hal Gill remain together while Ryan O’Byrne was with Andrei Markov.

Pouliot has been solid, he’s yet to pot a goal but it will come. He’s leading the team in the body check stat column I believe and he’s been good at both ends of the ice. Let’s not forget his two linemates played worse than he did last night

Pouliot was damned by the ‘help’ of his own H-I/O supporters after last night — using Pouliot’s workrate and endeavour as a defense of him. I said to myself at the time that we already have Moen for that: Pouliot needs to show effective skill.

Demote him.

But O’Byrne? JM clearly plays favourites — no way O’Byrne was that bad last night relative to those around him. He’s just a whipping-boy for Martin (whom I am really starting to lose confidence in…)

JM really seems to have zero patience with O’B. I thought the same… he battled back after the delay penalty and with Josh Georges was probably the best defensive guy out there (Price aside!)

I think that Pouliot has to play like he did last night, every night. Eller is really snapping at his heels… that said the Lapierre line last night was arguably the best on the ice… and who’d want to break that up…

I hope JM doesn’t get all Carbo and constantly shuffle with a hope and a prayer. Work with Pouliot and OB. Make them better players…

In fairness, O’Byrne is making the same mistakes over and over again. Pouliot on the other hand has really improved his game even though he isn’t putting the puck in the net.

Pouliot doesn’t deserve a demotion in my opinion. O’Byrne’s is questionable if it’s in favour of Picard but the fact remains that O’Byrne is getting his chances and simply can’t eliminate bad mistakes from his game.

24 cups– I think OByrne will be in and PK will sit with Picard when Markov comes back Sat. night. just a hunch. Martin will have to let PK watch a game from the press box. He learns very quickly unlike OByrne.

Didn’t Moen play the fewest minutes of all the forwards? Now he is on the second line? I like the dude but he is NOT a top six forward. Ellar has not looked out of place in any of the games I have seen. JM just will not give a young player ( with the exception of Laps and PK ) a decent chance to prove themselves.

Are you basing Markov back on Saturday on the unofficial word that was posted in the last couple of days, or have you heard something new? I can’t wait for him to come back. Helps our PP and solidifies our D

Could it be that Boucher got his guys’ attention during the first break? He looked pretty pissed if you ask me, as he was leaving the bench. Could it be that he made some adjustments? You want to play run and gun with an offensive team such as the Lightning, or do you think you should be defensively responsible first? Add the penalty factor into the equation, and then tell me again JM had them “sitting back”. They weren’t sitting back, they were hanging on for their lives after the first period. It’s great to have a good penalty killing team, but I suggest it’s better not to take those penalties. Just a thought.

I’m not sure exactly why O’Byrne, who played well after his one dumb penalty that cost us nothing, and Pouliot, who just played solid last night, but didn’t hit the scoresheet, are being punished when the real reason for the loss is the ineptness of the coach. Maybe he should demote himself and let Muller take over for a night.

I agree. You know P.K. is pretty rugged, and is right in the oppositions face. He is making a difference in our team toughness for sure. Hammer is underrated for his physicality, but he isn’t a prospect.

I can’t remember the Moen with Gomez and Gionta line ever working. Seems like putting Eller here might be a good idea. Not crazy about how the defensive lines are being put together either, evidently I like O’Byrne more than JM does.

”Last season we couldn’t win at home and we were losing on the road. My failure was that I couldn’t think of any place else to play.” – Harry Neale

Same reason OB-Gill skated together in yesterday’s morning practice, testing pairs and sending messages. Perhaps JM wants Picard to give Subban some advice about being a little calmer and simpler on the ice.

Ian – O’Byrne sure is a bit of a puzzler. He rarely gets an extended opportunity to improve his game the way some other young Habs do. At the same time, you wonder if he has the skill set to become a solid NHLer. He seems to continually repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

I trust the coaching staff know what they are doing with this guy, because he is the only real defensive prospect we have that has any real size with the ability to dole out hits and clear the front of the net. Tinordi is the only other name that comes to mind and he’s at least four years away from regular NHL employment.

No kidding, Chuck. I’ve been coming to this site since it’s beginning and one of the main topics of criticism has been the coaching. Doesn’t seem to matter who it is doing the coaching. When the Habs lose, there are plenty of knowledgable coaches here on HIO to point out the coach’s inabilities, or poor judgement. I want to read the book on coaching being compiled by the HIO armchair coaches.

Yea, not so sure about Moen with Gio and Gomer!! I thought OB played pretty decent (except for his second delay of game call of the year!!!), was physical and pretty well positioned. I thought Pouliot has actually been playing pretty decent too and has been really trying hard. He really needs to pot a couple so he can loosen up the grip on his stick a bit, then he might get a bunch in the mesh. He’s had some terrific opportunities so far and is just totally snake bitten!!

Geez, I don’t know. I think a wake-up call is a bit of a stretch at this very early part of the season. Might have more to do with the next opponent, and their style of play. Moen would be expected to create a little more room for his smaller linemates, and get in Miller’s doorway. Get the opposition looking around for a big body crashing into them takes some of the attention away from Gomez and Gionta.

Pouliot was very unlucky last night. I agree he has to turn it up, but last night he couldn’t buy a goal. He has 2 assists and is one point short of being tied for the team scoring lead…. Let’s give our guys a few more games to see what they can achieve individually. His line hasn’t been effective either, so its not only on him.

If you would rather a coach with less than 2 years of professional experience than one with the most experience than its your loss. So far Boucher has beaten the Thrashers and the Habs in overtime. Thats the extent of his accomplishments. Yet somehow everyone loves his great coaching. Communication with players is not the only aspect needed. Let’s see what happens before we give him the Jack Adams…

Ill take the guy that got us into the Conference finals last year, for now…

Other than a brain fart delay of game penalty I thought OB did ok last night. Martin, as usual, is looking for a scape goat to his piss poor coaching. Yes, the #6 dman, who was a plus on the night btw, was definitely a problem last night.

You could put Benoit Pouliot on a line with Gretzky and Lemieux and this guy still wouldn’t be able to take it up a notch. I’m sorry, but we should’ve got rid of Pouliot in June as I mentioned then. Instead, we give him a raise and dumped D. Moore. Someone here yesterday said that Boucher had zero NHL coaching experience and JM is a veteran coach and he would rather have him behind the bench. I’m sorry, but I’ll need to disagree with you on that. I’ll take Boucher and his 2 games against JM anyday.

“Line changes, missing players, and rookies…… These are not our
problem… I think our biggest problem is GIONTA… Is it just me or
did he say Max Laperriere last night?????? If he doesn’t know the guys
last name, and he has no problem with Kostitsyn’s name… US
CAPTAINS…. Thats what you get…”

Ummmmm… just an fyi, Stubbs confirmed that he did it on purpose to rib Lappy and Boyd.

Line changes, missing players, and rookies…… These are not our problem… I think our biggest problem is GIONTA… Is it just me or did he say Max Laperriere last night?????? If he doesn’t know the guys last name, and he has no problem with Kostitsyn’s name… US CAPTAINS…. Thats what you get…

We were unlucky last night. The goals they scored were crap. The reason we lost is because we let them get those shots, we couldn’t get the puck out of our own zone and we suffered for it. Other than that I thought we played a pretty good game. Price was outstanding, and the Gomez line was fairly useless. Once they get going and we get Markov back to full fitness, I am really going to like what we see…

Anybody else but me feel that we witnessed old school getting schooled by new school last game, a game that was as exciting as watching a Bulldogs game last season, except the wrong team was the exciting one. Mind you the boring team’s goaltender was spectacular at times. Just saying.

Responsibility also fell to Gionta last night to keep his teammates in line, I know he got handed a much more visible leadership position and more challenges to come with it but it is his job to rein in the guys and make sure they keep it calm and use their aggressive game to their advantage.

The static D concept of allowing the other team no holds barred access into the D zone boggles the effing mind. The gap between the backchecker and the Dman is always too effing large. Easy access = 40 + shots every game.

The thought that JM was “schooled” is another joke I’ve read over and over. The players not performing and playing together as a unit is a HUGE problem. 1-1-1 could easily be 0-3.

More misery to follow Friday night in Buffalo. Unless someone wakes the eff up. And it’s the players needing to wake up, not the coach.

JM quoted from practice as saying (as best I could get from Google Translate on this article) that the Gomez line did not play to Pouliot’s ability last night and wasn’t pleased with what Gionta and Gomez were doing more than what he thought Pouliot might have done wrong.

The Translate fails again – “c’est tout le trio qui ne joue pas la hauteur de ses capacités” is more along the lines of “it is all three of them not playing up to their capabilities” not the line playing to Benoit’s capability. Had he said “de son capacite” then yeah, not up to Benny’s par, but “ses” is the plural and refers to the entire line.

Well with many convinced JM is the next veteran NHL coach to flame out of the NHL and end up on RDS, I just thought I’d relay that he is perhaps not out to get Pouliot and instead noted the Gomez line is not motoring like it should.

It’s pretty bad when a long-term injury to one of your star players can be termed as “good news”.

And does anyone feel at least a little sorry for Jeff Finger? The Laffs sign him to a contract that was worth way more than what his skill-set should have commanded, and now he’s been buried in the minors because Leaf management can’t get a handle on how a salary cap works. If he’s recalled, another team could grab him on re-entry waivers for half-price, but that would mean that the other half of his contract would go back against the Leafs’ cap. Considering he was sent to the AHL as a salary dump, I doubt that the Leafs would be willing to call him back up.

So now here’s a guy with an NHL contract who could most definitely help another team (especially one needing help to hit the cap floor) and he’s stuck playing in the AHL regardless of how well he plays. I’m surprised that the NHLPA isn’t all over this.

Also, if I’m looking at signing a contract, a no-movement clasuse is now at the top of my list.

Renaud Lavoie tweets that Price might play both games. And I think that really good news. I think he can handle it and it’lll gie him lots of confidence (Remember when JM came with Halak is Calgary last time?) And also, I don’t want to imagine Alex Auld facing 50 shots.

But by the same token, being able to bury high-priced contracts means that teams will be able to replace those players with ones making a lot less money, which artificially drives down salaries. The NHLPA doesn’t want to see that, either.

Chuck – I believe that Finger was signed by Cliff Fletcher while he was acting as laff caretaker before Brian Burke arrived. Finger has two years left at 3.5M a seson so he will most certainly play out the string in the AHL. Luckily for him he gets to stay in the same city and doesn’t have to move (Toronto Marlies). Could you imagine if had to live in some hell hole like Hamilton:-)

This is a smart move by Burke as it opens up cap space (which in today’s NHL is as much an asset as a player) which he can use to help a team fix their cap problems (while getting something in return such as a pick for Kolzig) or even pick up a decent player from a team that is desperate to get under the cap (Atlanta-Chicago). There is no way that Finger was going to dislodge kids like Schenn and Gunenarsson or Brett Lebda who makes 2M a season less than Finger.

Most H I/O posters hate Brian Burke but aside from his Kessel trade he has done a decent job of finding some talent and turning around the Muskoka mentality of the franchise. Hab fans like to laugh at the Komisarek signing but we all have to remember that G&G basically made the same offer. Ditto for Kovy. Gionta/Spacek could just have easily been Kovalev/Komisarek.

Fletcher signed Finger with input from coach Ron Wilson who liked Mr Finger play as an Av when Wilson was coaching San Jose but Fletcher most questionable move to some was giving up 2 draft picks to move up a couple of spots to draft Luke Scheen when The Leafs were trying to rebuild & giving up draft picks is not the way to go leaving Burke trying to obtain team depth via signing undrafted free agents College players & for the most part found out why these players were not drafted at age 18……….

Finger was Fletcher’s screw-up but what I found insulting was “Mr. Straight Talk” Burke said it was about letting Finger build up his value in the AHL when in fact, everyone knows it’s a straight salary dump on a contract no team wants and TOR is never going to let it sit on their cap at half-value from re-entry waivers.

I find Burke irritating because he speaks with this ridiculous level of arrogance that in my opinion, is completely unjustified considering while he has a Cup win, so do other GMs and they don’t try to sell their view of the game as the best way it is to be played and they can’t be wrong.

I completely agree that Burke did what was best for the team, and considering the moves that were available to him, it’s the right move.

But just like front-loaded contracts, being able to dump salary in the minors or Europe makes a mockery of the salary cap, which was instituted to bring in “cost-certainty” in order to help out the teams that have to operate on smaller budgets. How does it help those teams if the richer ones can afford to bury salary and NHL-level talent, essentially buying their way out of bad management mistakes?

Now teams that can afford to will spend more: their cap money + buried contracts. That isn’t a level playing field, nor is it cost-certainty. Once again the league is back with the “haves” and the “have-not’s”.

I really believe that Fletcher came in as the caretaker hoping against all hope that he would get another chance to become Toronto’s GM. The mandate was to tank the team and get rid of the driftwood until Burke arrived. Instead, Fletcher made a series of moves that just made Burke’s job even more difficult. Believe it or not, he’s still upstairs in the laff organization pulling down some coin for doing bugger all. It’s akin to being in the Canadian Senate.

Most H I/O posters hate Brian Burke but aside from his Kessel trade he has done a decent job of finding some talent and turning around the Muskoka mentality of the franchise. Hab fans like to laugh at the Komisarek signing but we all have to remember that G&G basically made the same offer. Ditto for Kovy. Gionta/Spacek could just have easily been Kovalev/Komisare

I have to say its posters like you that give me hope for HIO.

Finally, someone who can step away from the B.S and understand what’s really going on in this world.

Kudos!

I love my country, that does not mean I support the present government.
I love the Habs, that does not mean I support the present Habs management.

I’d like to see Eller on the Gomez line rather than Moen. Eller’s a top 6 player who proved he can be effective with the Toronto game when Cammy was out. I think he needs more icetime to prove what he can really do and maybe spark some production from that line. Pouliot’s working hard and has upped his physical game which is a great sign, but right now we need production and he is as snake-bitten as they come.

The clock is ticking on Obyrne….he looked so scared to me last night(no confidence) especialy after panicing and throwing the puck over the glass….he needs to get physical..hit everything and gain confidence and respect that way…those are his assets

On the other hand Subban is so confident, and filled with piss and vinegar…that he,s going to make some of the “gaffs” like he did last night…to me thats ok he,ll learn what chances to take and what not to!!!I would hate to see a coach scare him into ineffectifness…..because some high risk plays he makes..do work and lead to a scoring chance!!!

Gomez and Gionta aren’t connecting on passes and shots it’s true…but they are still getting the puck to the right places and Pouliot is just not cashing in. Not that Moen will. I think it’s going to have to be Eller…

and bring white up.

I don’t have a ton of faith in Martin but I do have faith in most of these players. AK is going to have a good year I think. That second line is killer. Max’s line is good and even Pyatt and the 4th line is doing well.

I think we should relax a bit. We have three points in three games, it’s not great, but we’re not the Penguins at least. You think they’re going to stay this way? I don’t think we will either. (I HOPE!)

I honestly feel that JM’s coaching style and lack of offensive insticts is what is killing this team. Montreal is clearly a team built for speed, and offense, look at their cap, they have 4 huge contracts committed long term to the top 6, thats fine, but if you are going to do that, build the team to succeed around these players. Defense first system doesn’t work with these forwars, they are to small to protect their own end, however each of the top two lines has a physical winger, and they are capable of applying pressure and handling the puck for long stretches in the offensive end, so style your gameplan this way. Another thing that bothers me is JM’s LOVE for veteran players, sure, you need your vets to lead ideally, but the vets on this team are NEVER punished, Gomez and Gionta have been completely invisible and they are supposed to be our top line?! Those two are acutally making Pouliot look bad right now, who has been able to put up 2 pts in 3 games and even registered 5 hits lasts night, send the right message JM, dont bench Pouliot!!!!?!?! Since when does putting a fourth line winger (Moen) produce MORE offense with struggling top 6 forwards?! reward the players who are playing well, try this for the weekend games, i bet you will be pleasantly surprised;

I was very disapointed with last nights game against TB as Carey played a whale of a game only to have the Ref take it away. I know they the Canadiens where outshot severally but he Carey was doing very well and should have had that game. Gary’s refs are a huge disapointment!! TheBug30

Benoit is playing well right now, he just doesn’t have that finish. An opportunity to play with some high energy, and younger players, in Boyd and Pyatt will take some pressure off and give him an opportunity to get his offensive game going. I like his physical play, and his size will work well with those two.

Moen is a big boy and not afraid of going to the net. Having a veteran guy like that play on the 2nd line can’t possibly hurt. He has scored some big goals for us, but more importantly he’ll open up some space for Gio and Gomer.

Judging by this, it would appear that the defensive pairings when Markov returns will be:

Markov-Subban should be tested out certainly, he can cover up his partner’s mistakes with ease and Subban will learn a ton from being shifted with Markov. Markov reads the ice and knows how to pick his spots, he can tune in Subban on when to hold back, while Subban will gladly handle physical efforts on the pair.

Yea, I like the look of them too, atleast more then putting Moen – Gomez – Gionta and then Eller – Halpern – Lapierre, with Eller cetering Benny and Gio, it gives us two top line still, JM seems to think putting a grinder on every line will magically create secondary scoring, right now, I think Montreals biggest problem is secondary scoring (atleast once Markov is healthy is will be) the pleks line is producing 2 goals a game, if we could get another line that would produce, and a PP goal every now and then we would have one all three games. The most positive thing so far is that Carey has been a legitimate number 1.

The GGP line is out of sync. When Gomer does his rushes, no one is going with him. They stand up there waiting near the blue line for him, and there’s little he can do with the puck once he gains the zone.

Brendan Gallagher’s team lost to the Prince Albert Raider’s yesterday, but he maintained his point streak to 10 straight games and sits at 8G, 8A over 16GP, it was also the first game he actually registered a – differential.

Alexei Emelin is becoming a major force for Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL on the final year of his deal. After his coming out party in the playoffs where he scored 5G, 8A in 22 games on the road to an eventual Championship, he stands at 3G, 4A in 12GP this season. I would argue that Emelin could be the key plank in next year’s offseason moves if he can be convinced to leave Russia. At 6’1″, 220 pounds and an increasing ability to add offensive contributions he could be very useful.

agreed:markov/subban pairing. watched last nights game on tampa’s telecast and the announcers noted how philly had attacked subban forcing him into mistakes something that his former coach boucher knew well how to and last night tampa did the same and subban was caught out of position several times and even that late penalty was caused by him being out of position. even in toronto and pittsburgh games subban was targeted by both those teams. with markov back therewith subban those teams cant gamble on that strategy.

After three games of regular season play we’re at .500, with our best player in Markov missing all those games, a good defenseman in Hamrlik missing for two of those games, and one of our best forwards in Cam missing in one of those games. Also we outplayed Toronto in the first game and although we lost in the majority of games like that we’ll end up winning, and we could easily have gotten an extra point against Tampa (or to put it otherwise it’s difficult to conceive how we could have ended up below .500 because even if we didn’t manage a come-back against the Pens we could have gotten more points elsewhere). Also some of the big uncertainties coming into the season show reassuring signs, namely in the case of Price, third and fourth line production, Eller, and I think Kostitsyn too. We obviously have problems beyond all this, like any team has… but, I think it’s safe to say, THE SKY IS FALLING AND WE SHOULD GET READY FOR A LOOOOOOOOOONG SEASON!!!1

good news for you leaf obsessors! loto quebec now lets you bet just 2 games to win. so you can take toronto who never loses this year as one selection and all you have to do is pick one winner. tomorrow habs in buffalo.

BP never had the finish , he needs to go to the net and crash it , he’s always trying for the pretty top shelf goal , while skating by the net , when they should be banging off his head into the net , they are going to use moen to show how BP what to do when on the line ,

dont understand why the team gives so many chances trying to make things work and others get sent to the ahl , for going offside

Well it was about time he did his job after 9GA in his first two starts and getting pulled against WSH, plus he dropped a game to Dallas, a group operating under an internal budget that doesn’t let them spend the cap yet still they won out.

ed, do you honestly believe that Martin Brodeur is at the height of his career of right now, or fading? Tick-tock on the NJD, Brodeur gets older and his game has not improved with age. Weak playoff exits for multiple years straight as he chases or pads his personal records. I’d bet MTL advances further than NJ this year in playoffs without hesitation.

Bulldogs don’t open their season until tommorow against the Rochester Americans than we get start examining stats and game reports, they’ve been in training the last few days, although the new head coach Randy Cunneyworth gave high marks to Avtsin’s effort level and passion for the game.

On the plus side, Price has played great, and Kostitsyn looks great if he actually can play like that consistently that will be large.

Obviously Markov will be huge. My main concern after 3 games is Martin’s “system” of collapsing around the goalie like Custer’s last stand is getting really old. It worked in the short run in the playoffs but it’s very hard on the players to sustain with the shot blocking, etc. I don’t think it can be done for a whole season by anyone.

I kind of think Patton’s quote about war is appropriate here. “You don’t win by dying for your country, you win by getting the OTHER GUY to die for HIS country.

We need play a lot more in the other end of the ice, create chaos and lateral movement. We have no or limited options to change players or trade, so this is pretty much the team.

Let’s see what M. Martin can come up with – hopefully something the players we have can execute.

He was goaltending for a team that allowed 27 SA/G per game, which was only bested by CHI’s 25 SA/G who produced a total of 11 shutouts between their two netminders last season. NJD spent a season working the classic Lemaire trap that is pretty much built around Martin Brodeur’s goaltending style, limiting chances and keeping the shot totals low. Imagine Price’s stats right now if he faced 27 shots a game.

Brodeur has come off great regular seasons for years but he has failed to pull it out in the playoffs where the offence is more pressing and he’s racked in 70+ games already. He gets worn out and blown out of nets. Sooner or later, he’s not even going to be able to put up a great 75-game season anymore. I have nothing against Brodeur but he isn’t what he was. A wider-open offensive game by NJ is not going to favour a 70+ game season for Brodeur.

Yes he did, brilliantly. But it’s one thing to execute a “collapse around the goalie, keep everything to the perimeter and block shots with your teeth” in a series. It’s unsustainable for a whole year, even you had a team built to do it, which we don’t. And you’ll remember we were totally out of gas against philly.

We need to coach with what we have, not an abstract systemic model.

Carbo was trying to recreate the successful teams he played on. He didn’t have the horses and couldn’t accept that and adjust.

Pat Burns is a great example of a good coach – 3 different Coach of year awards from coaching 3 totally different teams stylistically – Habs, Leafs and NJ couldn’t have been more different.

He used what he had. Either Martin starts scheming stuff we can execute, or it’s going to be a long year.

Not sure about Martin’s shake-up. He is punishing the wrong guy. It is not Pouliot that should be demoted but Gomez. I would recommend reading habs_101_habs’ post below (sent around 15:00). He makes a very good point.

I’ll do that for you. The difference between Price and Brodeur’s SV% accounts for about 8 more goals based on the amount of shots Brodeur faced (2004). In other words, Price would have let in a little more than 1 extra goal every ten games than Marty did (based on Marty’s 76 starts).

Gionta and Gomez have been invisible and our pp has sucked so far this season and thats why we lost 2/3 games plain and simple. It’s crazy how some people here over analyze the situation. This team is a good one once we get all lines going and i have full confidence that we will. Gomez and Gionta are veterans and i doubt they will suck like this all year long. Our pp troubles will be solved once markov comes back. A 5 game win streak is upon us people so look out.

For that matter, I am unsure that a gameplan that calls for allowing the other guys to outshoot and outchance your guys sometimes two to one and more, and praying the goalie stands on his head, is what could be called “outcoaching” anyone, let alone “brilliantly”.

It would be fairer to say Blysma and Boudreau were out-lucked and out-goalied.

The last thing Martin should do is panic. Moving Gomez to the 3rd line or, no disrespect, Moen to the 1st line is panicking. He should stick with the same lines and demand more disciplined play and hope for (and expect) better calls and bounces.

I do agree with your assessment, but one thing I would like to see is Pouliot spearated from Gionta. He has too much respect for both Gionta and Gomez not enough for himself. I see him constantly giving up the puck to the other two guys on his line rather than making the right play for the moment which sometimes is keeping the puck himself.

Maybe a 3rd line of Eller, Pouliot, and Lapierre is the right move. 3 guys who will just work hard and have some offensive upside (well Eller and Pouliot anyway…), and put Boyd, Halpern, or Moen with G and G.

I was saying the exact same thing all last season and into the playoffs. Only to be called a Leaf troll, Halak lover, Boucher lover and JM hater. I don’t hate JM, but I do hate the way he coaches. He is not a motivator or a coach that can devise a system that suits his roster. He has a defensive sytem and hell or high water that is what he expects his players to execute. The fact they are ill suited to this task seems to be inconsequential to the man.

Halak saved not only the season but the tenure of JM. I wonder if it was worth it in the long run.

I agree… GG’s need someone with some speed on that line. Boyd (although I am not sure what natural position he plays) would probably be pretty good on that line. Eller too. Hell, if JM wants to experiment, why not put O’Byrne with Gionta and Gomez?

Thanks for the update! Good to see Gallagher producing at such a high rate, hope this helps his WJH chances. Emelin’s offensive improvement, at least production wise looks legit. His contract is up this spring and there would be a spot open on the Habs if he was ready and willing.

NJD Blog, alright. Just remember this the next you criticize any Fan’s explanation of Carey’s play and it not being his fault. How about the Olympics last winter? He gave the Americans that game in essence with bad play and got yanked for it.

Brodeur has yet to prove he can make it through playoffs without some HOF defenders in front of him and frankly, if this was Price v Halak and someone was breaking down goals by Price, we’d have the “Halak would have found a way to win” nonsense. If Brodeur is the money goaltender he gets reported to be and age isn’t affecting him, he can steal a playoff series once in the last 3 years. He’s never had real success without Niedermayer and Stevens covering him. People demand that Price must make the impossible saves to prove his status, how about Brodeur does the same in the last half-decade when it matters most?

I am tired of getting flak for suggesting Brodeur wasn’t ever great I’m saying he isn’t what he was. That still leaves him better than most but time catches up with everyone and I don’t see him suddenly becoming a dominant playoff goalie if he stubbornly sticks to his 70+ game schedule.

If he wants to shake things up ..start calling out a few guys .. Gomez for example ..he makes the big money ..his fault or not …the point is he needs to get his nose dirty and get to the net ..playmaker ..I don’t think so .

47 shots on goal ….???? that’s what’s needs to be fixed as well our PP…MAB doesn’t look that bad know does he //

looks like a long season with boring JM at the helm .. he should of lost it when PK got the penalty late in the third … JM lacks emotion ….. get fired up man !!!!!

First off…welcome back Timo. Haven’t had a chance to say so since you were readmitted. And I’ve noticed that your tone is much more….diplomatic since your reinstatement. While i got to know you a little personally and therefore gained some insight into your online persona, I must say I like your new one better and think it’s a more accurate portrayal of who you actually are! Also I hope we can get together again soon at Shanks or something and bring back a little of that Game 7 magic! Looks like we could use a little of it right now.

On that note, while Timo has slightly tweaked his way of “venting”, it’s nice to see others have not (sigh). but….has anyone been watching the Ultimate Fighter? GSP is coaching and I think this wonderful athletic ambassador for Quebec and Canada is providing a great example of how to deal with people who skew towards the loud and ignorant end of the personality spectrum (i.e. josh Kosicheck or, say, certain HIO posters). Anyway, anyone who hasn’t tuned in, should; just to see how to deal with such annoyances in a classy AND effective way! Just thought I’d throw that out there.

What interests me so much more is next season and the space we will have on the cap, and the possibility of having some of our young prospects making the team.

Alexi Emelin is a beast, I had a chance to see him play when I wented to Moscow and saw Dynamo face Ak Barz last year. Asset he would be to the Habs if we could CONVINCE him to play North American hockey. I just can’t imagine why anybody wouldn’t want to play for the best league in the world,where you find the best players. Unfortunatly Kazan Russia is so corrupted with the mafia being the 3rd or 4th corrupted city in russia that most of these players are tied to personal obligations and contracts with these guys. But if we can land Alexi Emelin to a 2 year deal next year, it will be the season I have been waiting for since I first heard about him, I anticipate overall that the Habs have drafted well the last 5 years from what we are all promised to get as results for the future.

People are kvetching about Gomez and Gionta, but I am more preoccupied by how awful PK was last night, how completely irresponsible he was- and Cammalleri’s apparent lack of interest and weirdly smartassy attitude. He made a beer league attempt at o-zone penetration in the 2nd that made my jaw drop in sheer incredulity… and his weakass clearing attempt during the final PK helped the Bolts hem the Habs in. He looks out of sorts to me.

I’m not worried about PK at all, he’s being forced to play out of his depth as a PP qb in basically his first 5 regular season games of his career. When Markov comes back everyone on the D corps will look better by moving one spot down the depth chart.

Subban is still adapting to the NHL and he was up against a coach who knew him pretty damn well, put pressure on PK and expolited his tendencies. Gomez and Gionta have to be better and they’re veterans, they know how this game works, Subban is a work in progress, it won’t all be roses with him. Cammalleri’s racked into the 40-60 PIM range in his career, he does get hot-blooded sometimes, hopefully it’s out of his system and he calms down for Friday night.

I think PK is smart enough to get the picture at some point. You can’t play AHL level hockey against the big boys and expect them to fall for your moves. But you can expect them to put pressure on you whenever possible knowing full well you will make an AHL error or two. He’ll figure it out after getting burned a few times. The Cammi thing doesn’t concern me either. The entire top two lines are out of sorts so far.

Looking at the first three games, something is (was) missing. Watching last night it was clearly evident what that something is: a punishing forecheck. If you follow the Habs forwards path into the offensive zone on most occasions, there is a simple grazing of the other teams D. This is simply not going to get it done. This wouldn’t get it done in Junior. We need someone to “create” turnovers, and feed our offensive stars: ie: Plekanecs, Gionta, Kosti. We have this player in our system, his name is Ryan White.

Now before anyone gets bent out of shape, think about it. I don’t mind Pouliot, I really liked him directly after the trade, he was scoring in front of the net. However, for the most part (even though he has been trying to use his body), we have way too many perimeter players. Ryan White is a poor mans Chris Neil, and given the chance, will become as effective as Neil in his Prime, gauranteed. He was the teams most energetic player in the preseason, and proved he belonged. Unfortunately, we have a coach who had his mind made up before the preseason started, based on contracts albeit.

My advice, give the kid a chance. I believe he’ll make us proud. I believe he’ll give this team the jolt it needs. He is exactly what we need, and nobody else on this team can give it-that’s the problem. It doesn’t matter what combination of players the coach dials, the team is missing this ingredient. I like Eller, I like Moen, but Eller is not tough enough (although he is very skilled), and Moen is not skilled enough to make the pass after creating the turnover, he, is basically a tough plugger. White can skate, he can fight, he can pass, and he showed he can score.

This is a no brainer. Putting Moen on one the top lines is just not going to do it, and I would bet he will be off that line by the third period of the next game, if not sooner. If Mr. Martin wants to infuse the team with that much needed jolt of adrenaline, and have someone else’s D look over their shoulder with some degree of fear, tell our beloved GM to CALL MR. WHITE!!!!!

you’re right about the weak forechecking. it was better under carbo’s system i find. i really liked white and want to see him dressed every day. he should be playing.

i wouldn’t say eller isn’t tough. he finishes his checks although they aren’t the strongest, he will improve. he wins most of his battles on the boards have you guys noticed? very strong on the puck and dishes a good first pass. i want to see him center the 3rd…Boyd and Lapierre on his wings. Keep pouliot on the 2nd line. He’s getting chances, give him time….if he hasn’t got a goal by the 10 game mark then switch it up…give him time on the powerplay to get a goal and raise hs confidence. confidence is a big deal…did you guys see kostitsyn try to deke between 2 guys in the 3rd after his goal? confidence….confidence…

As are boxers. And sprinters are just speed junkies who try to run faster than other people to prove they can do that.

Anyway, obviously you don’t agree that MMA is a sport and I’ll grant you the fact that it’s, at least, debateable. However, if you’ve ever watched GSP fight, and looked at how he trains, and his philosophies towards his “sport”, it’s clear that, even if MMA is not a sport, GSP is an elite athlete both physically and psychologically. And I stand by my original statement….he’s an excellent ambassador for both athleticsm and professionalism for his province, and more importantly, his country.

I stated a similar opinion with the team coming out of training camp, CF. I made the point that, based on what they had shown in camp I’d take White ahead of Halpern. I was called everything but a complete idiot since I stated the opinion that prowess in the faceoff circle would be the only thing that could keep Halpern in camp. Now, I get that winning faceoffs is important, but so is attitude. In my opinion (and yours, I see) Ryan White was the poster boy for the kind of attitude this team needs. It’s an attitude that everyone, including faceoff specialists would do well to cultivate.

3 games into the season and step one towards White being up full time has already taken place. BP on the 3rd line – gimme a break…Moen should be on the 3rd line, White up top and BP needs to go away…Alexandre Daigle was 1st overall – just cause he was drafted high – doesn’t mean a thing.

The coach doesn’t decide who stays in Montreal and who goes to Hamilton, that is the GM’s decision. The coach decides who plays (and for how much TOI) from the roster that the GM gives him. The coach does have some input, but it is ultimately the GM’s decision who is on the roster.

Fair enough. But I’m not sure I’d want to see that level of error-proneness at ANY level on the depth chart.

He’s being asked to fill some big shoes, and I have full confidence he’ll become a huge part of the team’s success. But last night, he was a huge part of why we lost. In the bin for the tying goal, missed coverage for the winning goal. He was awful. My expectations aren’t high. “Don’t be awful” isn’t exactly shooting for the stars, is it?

I do not think the Habs are getting the most out of Benoit Pouliot.Why not try him at centre?He is a strong skater who moves well laterally and has a big stride.He sees all of the ice well and he is a slick passer when he senses an open man.He has the size to create havoc in front of the net when the situation calls for it.He may have to work on taking face-offs but that skill has been taught before.Up to this point he has not performed strongly as a winger so why not give a new position a try?